Noise and Frequency Analyses of a Miniaturized 3-DOF
Accelerometer Utilizing Silicon Nanowire Piezoresistors
Dzung Viet Dao, Toshiyuki Toriyama and Susumu Sugiyama
Center for Promotion of the 21st Century COE Program, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, dzung@se.ritsumei.ac.jp
Department of Microsystem Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, toriyama@se.ritsumei.ac.jp
Department of Microsystem Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, sugiyama@se.ritsumei.ac.jp
Abstract
This paper presents the characterization of nanowire p-
type Si piezoresistor, as well as the design of an ultra small
3-degree of freedom (3-DOF) accelerometer utilizing the
nanowire Si piezoresistor. The investigation in silicon
nanowire piezoresistor showed the longitudinal
piezoresistance coefficient πl[011] of the Si nanowire
piezoresistor increased up to 60% with a decrease in the
cross sectional area, while transverse piezoresistance
coefficient πt[011] decreased with an increase in the aspect
ratio of the cross section. The sensitivity, noise, and
frequency performance of the ultra small accelerometer
using the silicon nanowires are carefully analyzed.
Keywords
Accelerometer, piezoresistive, Si nanowire
INTRODUCTION
Micromachined accelerometer is one of the most important
types of the mechanical silicon-based sensors, since there
have been large demands for accelerometers in automotive
applications, where they are used for crash detection, and
for vehicle stability systems. In addition, due to small size
and light weight, they are also used in biomedical and
robotics applications for active motion monitoring, and in
consumer for stabilization of pictures in camera, head-
mounted displays. A substantial study on micromachined
accelerometers has been reported so far, with the working
principles are mainly based on the piezoresistive effect,
capacitance, tunnelling effect, resonant, and so on [1].
Among those, the piezoresistive accelerometers have many
advantages such as the simplicity of the structure and
batch-fabrication process, as well as the readout circuitry.
Most piezoresistive accelerometers reported up to now
using conventional microscale silicon piezoresistors, which
commonly have the smallest dimension of about several
micrometers [2-5]. This limits the downsizing of the
micromachined accelerometers. The maximal longitudinal
piezoresistive coefficient in silicon p-type diffused
piezoresistors was reported to be about 31×10-5 MPa-1 [6,
7] at the surface concentration of 5×1019 cm-3 in room
temperature. With the development of nano fabrication
process, nanoscale Si piezoresistors have been realized and
it showed the larger piezoresistive effect than the
conventional microscale one [8].
Reduction of chip size and increase of sensitivity are the
important targets of silicon-based sensors, since it increases
0-7803-8692-2/04/$20.00 ©2004 IEEE.
the total die/wafer, and thus the productivity, and
accordingly, decreases the total cost. Small, light weight
accelerometers are necessary for many potable devices,
such as camcorders, navigation systems, robot motion
monitoring systems, and so on. It is sometime a challenge
to maintain sensitivity of an accelerometer as chip size is
decreased. When the feature size of the sensor gets smaller,
some technical issues become more serious, such as the
noise problem and the damping control. For instance, the
smaller a nanowire is, the higher its resistance, and
therefore, the greater its thermal noise. The smaller the
seismic mass, the higher the thermo-mechanical noise.
In this paper, the design and analysis of a three degree of
freedom (DOF) ultra small accelerometer utilizing
nanoscale piezoresistors with enhanced sensitivity will be
presented. The noise and air damping issues of the
accelerometer are detailed.
SILICON NANOWIRE PIEZORESISTOR
The nanowire p-type Si piezoresistor, (hereafter called
nanowire), was fabricated by using SIMOX (separation by
implanted oxygen) Si wafer, thermal diffusion, EB (elec-
tron beam) lithography and RIE (reactive ion etching) tech-
niques. Figure 1 shows a fabricated nanowire with the
width and the thickness are both about 53nm, and the
length is 3µm. Sheet resistance of p+-Si diffused layer was
809Ω/, and surface impurity concentration was
approximately 5×1019 cm-3. Simple cantilever with one end
fixed was used to measure the piezoresistive effect in the
nanowires. Measurements of the longitudinal πl[011] and
transverse πt[011] piezoresistive coefficients corresponding
to various cross-sectional areas of the nanowires give the
results as shown in figure 2. The maximum value of
longitudinal piezoresistance coefficient πl[011] of the
fabricated nanowire was measured to be 48×10-5 MPa-1
corresponding to the cross sectional area is 53×53nm2. The
maximum increase in πl[011] with the decrease of cross
sectional area is up to 60%. This enhancement of πl[011] can
be qualitatively interpreted by introducing the 1-
dimensional (1-D) hole transfer and the hole conduction
mass shift mechanisms based on the 1-D hole transport
system, which might be expected to be induced in the
nanowire p-type piezoresistor [8]. This property of Si
nanowire piezoresistor is very wonderful for the
mechanical sensors, since it can offer high sensitivity and
small cross-talk features.
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 (a) (b) software ANSYS 7.0 has been used for the analysis. The
anisotropic elasticity of silicon (100) is taken into account
in FEM analysis to obtain more reliable simulation results.
The FEM result shows that on the top surface of beam the
stress components other than the longitudinal one are very
small so that it can be neglected.

Nanowire Arrangement and Measurement Circuits

Figure 1. AFM image (a) and SEM image (b) of a Si nanowire. Based on the finite element analysis, nanowires to measure
each component of acceleration are arranged on the sensing
Piezoresistance coefficients

660
0
beams so as the longitudinal stress induced by that
π l[011], π t[011] (x10-5 MPa-1 )

50

40
40 acceleration reaches the maximum there. Therefore, the
30
nanowires are created at the fixed ends, in order to get the
220
0 πl[011]
highest sensitivity, as well as to avoid the interconnection
10 πt[011]
00
issue on narrow beams. The positions of nanowires on the
-1 0 beams are shown schematically in Figure 4
-20
-2 0
-3 0 RY2 RY4
10
1 . 1E 0+330 3 110
1 .E 0+ 440 4 E1 +0505
1 .10

Cross
C r o s s sectional
s e c t i o n a l area
a r e a 䇭(nm
䋨 n m) 䋩
22

Figure 2. Size effect on piezoresistive coefficients. Y <110>

RZ3 RX3 RX4 RZ4
DESIGN OF THE ACCELEROMETER <110>
The model of the sensing chip is shown in Figure 3. The RZ1 RX1 X RX2 RZ2
seismic block is suspended on the four surrounding beams,
which are fixed to the frame at the middles. Nanowire
piezoresistors are arranged on the surface of the sensing
beams. When acceleration is applied to the sensor, the RY1 RY3
seismic bock will be moved due to the inertial force. This
movement makes the beams deformed; as a result, the Figure 4. Arrangement of nanowires on the beams.
resistance of nanowire will be changed. The change of Table 1 summarizes the increase (+) or decrease (-) in
resistance will be converted to a voltage change by a resistance of nanowire due to application of accelerations
Wheatstone bridge. Ax, Ay, and Az. To detect the accelerations, nanowires are
Frame
Seismic mass
Sensing beam connected to form Wheatstone bridges as shown in Figure
(150x5x2µm 3 )
(500x500x350µm 3) 5. Ay-bridge and Az-bridge are shown in Figures 5(a) and
5(b), respectively. The Ax-bridge is similar to the Ay-bridge.
Hence, the change in resistance of nanowires is converted
to output voltage by these bridges.
Table 1. Resistance changes in nanowires
RX1 RX2 RX3 RX4 RY1 RY2 RY3 RY4 RZ1 + RZ4 RZ2 + RZ3

AX + - + - + + - - 0 0

AY + + - - + - + - 0 0
AZ + + + + + + + + + +
Figure 3. 3-D model of the accelerometer.
Vin Vin
Structural Analysis
The structural analysis of the sensing chip consists of two RY1 RY2 RZ1+RZ4 RRef
steps. The first step deals with qualitative analysis by
classical elasticity theory. The sensing beams with the VoutAy VoutAz
dimensions are 150×5×2µm3, (L×W×T), are connected to
seismic block at both two ends, and fixed to “rigid” frame
at the middles. The overall size of the chip is RY4 RY3 RRef RZ2+RZ3
500×500×350µm3, (L×W×T).
ground  ground
Simulation using finite element method (FEM) has been
performed to verify mechanical behaviour of the structure (a) Ay-bridge (b) Az-bridge
as well as to optimize the design. The commercial package Figure 5. Measurement bridges.

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Sensitivity Analysis
The sensitivity of the accelerometer can be defined as the
ratio between the output voltage and the applied
acceleration. With the notices that the nanowires of one
Wheatstone bridge are designed to be identical, and that the
transverse piezoresistive effect is very small in the
nanowires [8], the sensitivities of each components of
acceleration Ax,(Ay is analogous to Ax) and Az can be
respectively expressed as:
V 1 ∆R X
S Ax = outX = Vin = π l S Struct
Ax
Vin (1)
Ax Ax RX
VoutZ 1 ∆RZ
S Az = = Vin = π l S Struct
Az
Vin (2)
Az Az 2 RZ
Ax
where SAx, VoutAx and S Struct are the sensitivity to the
acceleration Ax, output voltage of the Ax-bridge, and
structural sensitivity to the acceleration Ax, respectively.
Ax
S Struct = σ lAx Ax , where σ lAx is the longitudinal stress at the
nanowire RX induced by the application of acceleration Ax.
Similarly for Ay and Az. As mentioned above, πl = 48×10-5
MPa at the impurity concentration of 5×1019 cm-3. With Vin
= 2.5V, the sensitivities are found to be: SAx = SAy = 0.4
mV/g, and SAz = 0.07 mV/g.
Damping Control
An accelerometer should have a uniform sensitivity for a
large frequency bandwidth. Damping is the most important
factor affecting the frequency performance of a vibration
system. An accelerometer is actually a device that measures
the displacement of the seismic mass relative to its
reference frame. In the optimal damping the, i.e. damping
ratios ζ=0.7 the amplitude-frequency relationship has
maximum bandwidth [10]. Therefore, the accelerometer
should be designed to work in optimal damping regime.
Figure 6 shows schematic view of the accelerometer (after
packaging) for calculation of damping. The desired
damping ratio ζ can be obtained by adjusting the gaps
between the seismic mass and the top/bottom caps g1.
Top cap
g1
H
Seismic mass
g1
Bottom cap
g2 W g2
Figure 6. Schematic view of the packaged accelerometer.
For the vertical vibration (first mode), although there are
two main types of damping acting on the seismic block, i.e.
viscous damping by liquid and squeeze-film air damping.
Squeeze-film air damping occurs when the seismic block
moving up and down, the air films between the bottom/top
surfaces of the seismic block and the bottom/top caps are
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squeezed. This damping type shows more effective
performance than the viscous damping. The damping ratio
caused by double sided squeezed-film air damping is [10]:
βµW 2 βµW 2
ζ = Ÿ g1 = 3 (3)
Hρg1 ω oz
3
Hρζω oz
where β is correction factor depending on geometry of the
seismic block, ρ is mass density of silicon (2330kg/m3), µ
is viscosity of the air (1.81×10-5 Pa-s), ωoz is natural radian
frequency, For the proposed accelerometer, W = 150µm, H
= 350µm, β = 0.45, ωoz = 2πf z = 13.5×104 rad/s, the value
of g1 is found to be about 2µm. In this optimal damping
condition ζ=0.7, the bandwidth corresponding to the gain
lost of 0.5dB is Bz = 13×103 Hz.
For the second and third modes (rotational vibration around
X- or Y-axis), the gaps between the two side walls of the
seismic mass and the inner side walls of the frame have
been decided based on the structure of the sensing chip,
and the micromachining ability. This gap g2 = 15 µm. In
this case squeezed-film air damping effect is much smaller
than viscous damping. The damping ratio is therefore
smaller than 0.7, and optimal damping is not obtained
Noise and Resolutions of the Accelerometer
There are three typical noise sources existing in all
piezoresistive sensors, including the Johnson noise,
Hooge’s noise (or 1/f noise), and the thermo-mechanical
noise.
z Johnson noise is due to random motion (thermal
agitation) of carriers in any electrical conductor. In a
nanowire, Johnson noise can be described as:
VJn ( rms ) = 4 K BTRB (4)
-23
where KB is Boltzmann’s constant (= 1.38 x 10 J/K), T is
temperature (K), R is resistance of nanowire (= 65 kΩ), and
B is measurement bandwidth (Hz). Accordingly, the
Johnson noises corresponding to each measurement bridge
can be calculated to be: VJnAx = VJnAy = 4.5 µV, and VJnAz = 2.6
µV at room temperature (T = 300K).
z 1/f noise is empirically determined noise, and it is
dependent on the total number of carriers, according to the
equation [11]:
αV 2 § f ·
V12/ f ( rms ) = in ln¨¨ max ¸¸ (5)
N © f min ¹
where Vin is bias voltage across a piezoresistor with total
number of carriers N, and fmax and fmin are upper and lower
limit of measurement frequency, respectively. α is a
dimensionless parameter called Hooge parameter. For
semiconductor α was found to be 10-7 [12]. For a constant
doping concentration, the number of carriers N is
proportional to the volume, so the 1/f noise power density
(SV = αV2/(Nf)) varies inversely with the piezoresistor
volume. Finally, 1/f noise voltage in one nanowire
piezoresistor can be calculated to be 1.7 µV(rms), and in
each measurement bridges are V1 /Axf = V1 /Ayf = 3.4 µV, and
V1 /Azf = 3.8 µV (rms).
z Thermo-mechanical noise is mechanical analog of
Johnson noise, and consists of physical oscillations due to
thermal agitation in the sensing structure. Thermo-
mechanical noise acceleration can be written as [10]:
8K BTωoζ § m · (6)
aTM = ¨ 2
¸ sources occurred in the accelerometer have been analyzed.
M © Sec Hz ¹
where M is the mass of the seismic block, and T is the
surrounding temperature. The thermo-mechanical noises
corresponding to each component of acceleration at 300K
Ax
with the bandwidths mentioned above are aTM = aTM
Ay
= 1.6
×10-3g, and aTM Az -3
= 4.7×10 g. Equivalent thermo-
mechanical noise voltage can be obtained by
Ax
VTM = VTM
Ay
= S Ax aTM
Ax
= 0.6µV, and VtmAz = S Az atmAz = 0.3µV.
As can be seen from the Eq. (6) the thermo-mechanical
noise is inversely proportional to the square root of the
mass. Increase of the mass can reduce the thermo-
mechanical noise.
z Total noise voltage: The total voltage noises in the
accelerometer are:
Ax
VNoise = VNoise
Ay
= (VJnAx ) 2 + (V1 /Axf ) 2 + (VtmAx ) 2 = 5.7 µV
Az
VNoise = (VJnAz ) 2 + (V1/Azf ) 2 + (VtmAz ) 2 = 4.7 µV
z Resolution: The resolution of an accelerometer
determines the minimum acceleration that can be measured.
Resolution is defined as the noise divided by the
sensitivity:
V Ax V Ay V Az
RAx = Noise , RAy = Noise , RAz = Noise (7)
S Ax S Ay S Az
Accordingly, resolutions to each components of
acceleration are RAx = RAy = 1.4x10-2g, and RAz = 6.8x10-2g.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The accelerometer is in fabrication process by using
MEMS fabrication processes. Starting material is multi
layers SOI wafer consists of a 50nm-thick device layer for
nanowire, 500nm-thick 1st BOX layer for insulation, 2µm-
thick Si layer for sensing beam, 500nm-thick 2nd BOX
layer for etching stopper, and 350µm-thick substrate.
Thermal diffusion is performed to form p-type Si, EB
lithography and RIE to create nanowire piezoresistors, then,
metallization process to make interconnection, and finally,
deep RIE to define the beam and seismic mass.
The characteristics of silicon nanowire piezoresistors have
been presented. The longitudinal piezoresistive coefficient
of the silicon nanowire increases with a decrease of the
cross-sectional area, while the transverse piezoresistive
coefficient decreases with an increase in the aspect ratio of
the cross section of the cross-sectional area. This property
is important for the development of small and high
sensitivity accelerometer. The proposed design of the
accelerometer, with beams surrounding the seismic mass,
makes the sensor smaller than crossbeam type
accelerometers having the same sensitivity. The
sensitivities to the accelerations Ax (or Ay) and Az are
0.4mV/g and 0.07mV/g, respectively, (g is the gravitational
acceleration, bias voltage Vin is 2.5V). Three main noise
The resolutions based on the noise analysis are RAx =
1.4x10-2g for Ax (Ay), and RAz =6.8x10-2g for Az. Damping
control has been considered so as the accelerometer
operates in optimal damping condition, in which the
frequency bandwidth is largest. Squeezed-film air damping
problem was applied to calculate the gaps between the
seismic mass and the top/bottom caps.
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